If Catherine Were in The Return: An Imaginary Scene

[David Locke]

I'm not all that disappointed that, bar some surprise appearance, it seems Piper Laurie/Catherine won't be in The Return at all. I mean, I can see how Frost/Lynch would think there's not much to do with her, especially with Nance gone.

But I just had this thought the other day, of a potential new Catherine scene. I can see it so clearly. It's just a glimpse - she wouldn't be central to S3. But it would be poignant: just imagine Catherine, now obviously quite old (as with so many of these characters), simply sitting alone in the darkened Blue Pine Lodge. She's softened a bit in the intervening years, at least in private. Pete's passing crushed her in a way she didn't anticipate. The 25 years since that day at the bank have found her in a sad position not unlike that of Sarah Palmer. Like Ben, sometimes she thinks she senses Josie's spirit, as if trapped in the woodwork of the BPL as well as the GN - but most of all, Catherine is continually haunted by Pete, with his absence making her realize just how much he meant to her. Even if she'd never admit to a pure and selfless love for him, Pete was central to her despite all the cruel treatment. With him gone, and with Andrew gone too, Catherine has nobody to have her usual snarky verbal sparring matches with.

And so we see Catherine sipping a mug of coffee, sitting alone at the table that used to be so occupied whether by Pete or Josie or Andrew. Then something triggers her memory - perhaps an old fishing hat of Pete's, or perhaps just a photograph. She stares at the item with a look of melancholy and regret, for once feeling bad about the way she'd treated the guy. "Oh, Pete..." she says to herself with sadness masked by her usual mode of ironic contempt, as she gently touches Pete's photograph, or grazes her fingers across his trusty old fishing cap. "Oh... Pete...." she repeats, this time purely out of sadness. She breaks down and cries softly as we cut to a wide shot of the room, Catherine utterly isolated and alone. She realizes the toxicity of her earlier iciness and cruelty, and wishes she could go back and change it all. But she can't, and she remains alone and facing her own mortality. End of scene.

[claaa7]

cool, i like it a lot.. especially as it would give a nice little nod to Pete as well. i heard there was some problems between Piper Laurie and the filmmakers (not sure whom) during the second season which supposedly explains her absence. would love to see a scene like this though.

[David Locke]

cool, i like it a lot.. especially as it would give a nice little nod to Pete as well. i heard there was some problems between Piper Laurie and the filmmakers (not sure whom) during the second season which supposedly explains her absence. would love to see a scene like this though.

Thanks! Yeah, I wonder if we'll get an episode this season dedicated to Nance, but without Catherine I'm not sure how he'd be mentioned in the story at all (like how the ep's dedicated to Silva/Frost/Davis/etc featured footage of their characters, new or old).

That's interesting - I didn't know Laurie had problems with any of the creative team. Do you remember where you read this? I can only assume it'd be because Laurie was dissatisfied with the direction of her character in S2. I guess I certainly can understand if she was disappointed because of Tojamura - an obviously ill-advised/silly character that doesn't work for me outside of the scenes (s)he has with Pete discussing "The King And I" and then interrupting his midnight snack in Ep 14. However, I really think after Tojamura went away Catherine was terrific throughout the rest of the season, even as so many other original characters and various plots floundered or lost their magic. From the Pilot to Episode 29, I think basically everything at the Blue Pine Lodge or with Catherine is pretty great. I really enjoy the puzzle-box plot, actually, and even in the weaker moments like Pete's uncharacteristic acceptance of Josie-as-maid serving him and Catherine dinner, there's still such fun to be gleaned from the way Nance and Laurie deliver their lines. But I guess, as I implied above, without Pete/Andrew/Josie/Eckhardt to bounce off of, I can see how Lynch/Frost wouldn't know what to do with Catherine this season.

[Mr. Reindeer]

She definitely wasn't dissatisfied with Tojamura; she has said she revelled in the chance to role play the way she used to as a child (she said she used to imitate all sorts of types of people around her), and in fact she herself chose to be a Japanese businessman (the writers had the idea of Catherine disguised as some sort of businessman, but let her pick the ethnicity).